Requisition Number: 178129
Position Title: Principal Game Designer I
External Description:
Founded in 2010 by the original creators of the Call of Duty Franchise, Respawn was created with the philosophy that when talented people have creative freedom, they’ll make extraordinary games that achieve the unexpected. From our roots as an indie studio to joining the expansive roster of studios at Electronic Arts, this remains our guiding principle. We truly love what we do and want to share our passion with players worldwide.
Our shipped titles include critically acclaimed multi-platform games Apex Legends, Titanfall, Titanfall 2, Star Wars™ Jedi: Fallen Order and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Join us for the opportunity to create groundbreaking games with some of the best developer talent in the industry.
Apex Legends is looking for a Lead Level Designer who will help us create exciting and innovative new levels. You’ll work closely with all departments to plan, design and guide new levels from early prototype through release. We are a studio that values creative ownership and candid feedback and a Design Lead should embody those traits.
You should have experience on a live service game in level design, and have strong enough technical and scripting abilities to work independently. You should have a strong suite of game development best practices (bug management, self scheduling, feature scoping, etc.) and be enthusiastic about upholding those best practices across the team.
You’ll be leading a team of level designers and will have management responsibilities. One on one’s with your team will ensure you build the relationships necessary to work tightly as a unit.
This is a fantastic opportunity to work with some of the most creative and talented people in the industry and put your stamp on Apex Legends.
What You’ll do…
- Be the Team Leader for a Level Design Team which you will manage, guide, and build.
- Manage tasks, priorities, and feedback for your department and your team, along with performance management of your team’s career path to success.
- Be the vision holder of what maps can be for Apex and drive the team to execute on that vision.
- Work with other departments to agree on vision and acquire assets for a cohesive experience.
- Playtest the game (a lot) and be proactive in feedback for all features, not just levels.
- Lead design reviews and proactively guide the team towards good solutions to design and development problems.
- Propagate and drive a culture of creative ownership, candid feedback and a safe working environment.
- Work with others on side projects to make Apex a better game.
Ideally, you will also have…
- 8+ years professional experience as a Level Designer with at least 2+ years as a Lead Level Designer for multiplayer FPS games.
- At least one shipped AAA game.
- Experience managing and leading a team of top-notch Level Designers.
- Outstanding collaboration skills with departments outside of Level Design.
- Experience with game editors and 3D software.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to block out maps quickly, gather feedback, and iterate rapidly.
- Experience in rapid prototyping and iterative design.
- A strong understanding of competitive integrity in a multiplayer game.
- Experience designing competitive multiplayer levels.
- Ability to self-schedule and drive features with support from design and code leadership.
- Experience managing and mentoring 2 or more people.
- Enjoy playing Apex Legends, understand what makes it work, and can discuss it in depth.
US COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The base salary ranges listed below are for the defined geographic market pay zones in these states. If you reside outside of these locations, a recruiter will advise on the base salary range and benefits for your specific location.
EA has listed the base salary ranges it in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in the locations listed, as of the time of this posting. Salary offered will be determined based on numerous relevant business and candidate factors including, for example, education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, and business or organizational needs.
BASE SALARY RANGES
• California (depending on location e.g. Los Angeles vs. Sacramento):
° $131,600 – $213,300
• New York (depending on location e.g. Manhattan vs. Buffalo):
° $131,600 – $213,300
• Jersey City, NJ:
° $154,800 – $213,300
• Colorado (depending on location e.g. Denver vs. Colorado Springs):
° $131,600 – $179,600
• Washington (depending on location e.g. Seattle vs. Spokane):
° $131,600 – $195,200
Base salary is just one part of the overall compensation at EA. We also offer a package of benefits including paid time off (3 weeks per year to start), 80 hours per year of sick time, 16 paid company holidays per year, 10 weeks paid time off to bond with baby (following 1 year of service), medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
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Community / Marketing Title: Lead Level Designer (Apex Legends)
Company Profile:
We are a global team of creators, storytellers, technologists, experience originators, innovators and so much more. We believe amazing games and experiences start with teams as diverse as the players and communities we serve. At Electronic Arts, the only limit is your imagination.
EEOText:
About Electronic Arts
Everything we do is designed to inspire the world to play. Through our cutting-edge games, innovative services, and powerful technologies, we bring worlds with infinite possibilities to millions of players and fans around the globe.
We’re looking for collaborative and inclusive people with diverse perspectives who will enrich our culture and challenge us. We take a holistic approach with our benefits program, focusing on physical, emotional, financial, career, and community wellness to support our people through every chapter of life. Our goal is to provide a safe and respectful workplace that empowers you to thrive in both work and life.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will also consider employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. EA also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.
Days Open: 28
Can this position be remote?: 1
EEO Employer Verbiage:
About Electronic Arts
We exist to inspire the world to play. Through innovative technology and immersive storytelling, we deliver new ways of experiencing worlds of interactive entertainment for our millions of players worldwide. Our strength lies in the diversity of our people, combining creativity, innovation and passion. We fully champion inclusive culture, and provide opportunities for growing, learning, and leading that allows for the most impactful and rewarding work of our teams’ careers.
We put our people first, and we make sure they’re taken care of both in and out of the office. As we reflect on our learnings and successes from remote work, we aim to provide dynamic, collaborative and flexible work environments for our teams. Our employees connect through our Employee Resource Groups, which are actively involved in driving business decisions every step of the way. But our support doesn’t end at the workplace-we also encourage a balanced lifestyle with paid time off and new parent leave, free video games, fitness reimbursement and more.
Our goal is to provide a safe, respectful and inspiring workplace for all of our employees. Through our diversity, equity, inclusion and social responsibility programs, we’re doing the work to give everyone the space to be their full selves while giving back to our community. We’re looking for problem-solvers, game-changers, innovators, dreamers, doers-people that are ready to move the needle and build on our success. As our industry accelerates, we aren’t just keeping up-we’re staying ahead of the game.
Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Electronic Arts also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.